Horses Now in Washington State

May 5th Update. King and Poker arrived safely at Ferndale, WA and the folks there handling logistics for the ride were quite pleased with both of them. Feedback about the compact and tough King included that he certainly typified the "Little brown horse with the scarred up hide." Poker was described as very nicely built and very smart. Needless to say both horses have already captured the hearts of the folks helping get them ready for the ride. Jamie McQueen of Ferndale is organizing the logistics and will take King out on some "tuning up" rides. Poker will start his formal training as soon as Gene arrives in Ferndale. Gene already encountered one problem. Many mustangs have really short backs that are efficient for navigating hilly ranges but sometimes can make it tough to fit larger rigid pack boxes. King's back was about an inch shorter than Gene's pack box rig. Since the idea is to rotate the loads on the horses during the ride (saddle and rider, pack rig 1, pack rig 2, etc.) in order to change the pressure points and minimize sores, Gene had to locate some different pack gear to fit King.

King and Janie McQueen.

Poker: "You're going to measure me with that?" More details and photos will be posted as this adventure progresses. Return to Part Two View more photos of Gene in Nevada. See Gene's "mounted view" of the United States. Visit the BLM story on Gene's visit to Nevada. Visit Gene's Website. Return to Part One Return to Workshop Page